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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   7335 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 21, 2026

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If you live in an area that is technically sparsely populated but you can drive <20 minutes and see a live production, that's gotta be suburban.

This metric really only works in large cities. In small or medium-sized cities (say anything under approx. 500,000), it’s possible to have literal Amish farms less than a 20 mile minute drive from a live theater.

I said 20 minutes, not 20 miles for a reason though.

20 miles CAN be a 30-45 minute drive depending on the type of roads you got out there.

If you can drive 20 miles in 20 minutes reliably (i.e. average speed of 60 mph) that strongly implies enough development to be suburban. In urban areas... the traffic is the factor that makes that almost impossible.

One feature of rural living (that can be shared with decaying urban areas) is roads in generally bad condition forcing you to drive more carefully and slowly.

One feature of rural living (that can be shared with decaying urban areas) is roads in generally bad condition forcing you to drive more carefully and slowly.

People in rural areas have a lot more ground to cover, and fewer police hanging about -- we usually drive ~80mph everywhere paved regardless of road conditions.

Typical speeds on decent loose gravel would be 45-50 -- slower than that and you no longer float over the washboard.

Even if the roads are winding?

Florida has a feature where it is very flat so almost every road is straight as an arrow, so one can speed 'safely' if there is light traffic and no cops.

Driving in Northern Georgia was a different matter, especially at night.

Everyone says driving in Ireland as a tourist is hell, because the locals speed down narrow country lanes with hedgerows making every corner blind.

Even if the roads are winding?

I mean you have to slow down if there's a sharp corner -- then you speed up again!

Sorry, that was a typo on my part. I meant 20 minutes. In the city closest to where I live, there are Amish farms less than a 20 minute drive to a live theater.

Then you have found some suburban Amish.

Although I'd go ahead and say that "neigbhors with Amish farmers" is a ruraldom indicator.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania has several live theaters within 5-10 minutes of the nearest farm. I don't know if they're Amish but given it's Lancaster that's the way to bet.

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